Methods and Systems for Storing Data in Memory Using Zoning

1. A method of storing data in a memory, wherein the memory is partitioned into a plurality of zones, and wherein each zone is associated with a respective redundancy level with which data is to be stored in the zone, the method comprising: receiving data to be stored in the memory; associating a redundancy level with the data; locating a first zone of the plurality of zones within the memory such that the redundancy level associated with the first zone matches the redundancy level associated with the data; storing the data in the first zone; and subsequent to the data being stored in the first zone, in response to a change in the redundancy level associated with the data stored in the first zone, moving the data from the first zone to a second zone of the plurality of zones, wherein the redundancy level associated with the second zone corresponds to the change in the redundancy level associated with the data, wherein the change in the redundancy level associated with the data is based at least in part on a length of time that the data is stored in the first zone.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the memory system is a solid state memory system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating the redundancy level with the data comprises: determining a desired level of protection for the data; and determining the redundancy level to associate with the data based on the desired level of protection for the data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein: associating the redundancy level with the data further comprises determining a minimum level of protection for the data, and associating the redundancy level with the data based on the determined minimum level of protection for the data; and storing the data in the first zone comprises storing only data required to meet the minimum level of protection for the data so that storage space of the memory system is maximized.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one criterion for associating the redundancy level with the data includes a type of the data.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the memory system is one of (i) a flash memory, and (ii) a solid disk array comprising a plurality of disks.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the solid disk array is a non-volatile, randomly accessible, rewriteable mass storage device.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the solid disk array includes at least one of (i) rotating magnetic disks, (ii) optical disks, (iii) solid state disks, (iv) non-volatile electronic storage elements, and (v) a redundant array of independent disks (RAID).

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the data from a computer system.

10. A memory system for storing data, the memory system comprising: a memory partitioned into a plurality of zones, each of the plurality of zones associated with a respective redundancy level with which data is to be stored in the zone; and a memory controller configured to receive data to be stored in the memory, associate a redundancy level with the data, locate a first zone of the plurality of zones within the memory such that the redundancy level associated with the first zone matches the redundancy level associated with the data, store the data in the first zone, and subsequent to the data being stored in the first zone, in response to a change in the redundancy level associated with the data stored in the first zone, move the data from the first zone to a second zone of the plurality of zones, wherein the redundancy level associated with the second zone corresponds to the change in the redundancy level associated with the data, wherein the change in the redundancy level associated with the data is based at least in part on a length of time that the data is stored in the first zone.

11. The memory system of claim 10 , wherein the memory system is a solid state memory system.

12. The memory system of claim 10 , wherein the memory controller is further configured to associate the redundancy level with the data by: determining a desired level of protection for the data; and determining the redundancy level to associate with the data based on the desired level of protection for the data.

13. The memory system of claim 10 , wherein: the memory controller is further configured to associate the redundancy level with the data by determining a minimum level of protection for the data, and associating the redundancy level with the data based on the determined minimum level of protection for the data; and the memory controller is further configured to store the data in the first zone by storing only data required to meet the minimum level of protection for the data so that storage space of the memory system is maximized.

14. The memory system of claim 10 , wherein at least one criterion for associating the error correction code with the data includes a type of the data.

15. The memory system of claim 10 , wherein the memory system is one of (i) a flash memory, and (ii) a solid disk array comprising a plurality of disks.

16. The memory system of claim 15 , wherein the solid disk array is a non-volatile, randomly accessible, rewriteable mass storage device.

17. The memory system of claim 15 , wherein the solid disk array includes at least one of (i) rotating magnetic disks, (ii) optical disks, (iii) solid state disks, (iv) non-volatile electronic storage elements, and (v) a redundant array of independent disks (RAID).

18. The memory system of claim 10 , wherein the memory controller is further configured to receive the data from a computer system.

19. A method comprising: partitioning a memory system into a plurality of zones, wherein each of the plurality of zones is associated with a respective redundancy level with which data is to be stored in the zone; associating a first redundancy level with data to be stored in the memory system; in response to associating the first redundancy level with the data, selecting a first zone from the plurality of zones such that the redundancy level associated with the first zone matches the first redundancy level; in response to selecting the first zone, storing the data in the first zone; subsequent to storing the data in the first zone and based at least in part on a length of time that the data is stored in the first zone, changing the redundancy level associated with the data from the first redundancy level to a second redundancy level; in response to changing the redundancy level associated with the data from the first redundancy level to a second redundancy level, selecting a second zone from the plurality of zones such that the redundancy level associated with the second zone matches the second redundancy level; and in response to selecting the second zone, (i) deleting the data from the first zone, and (ii) storing the data in the second zone.